I'll say this: I hope that is the game's downfall for everyone, not just the subset of us that find this monetized online direction for Bethesda's ES and Fallout franchises completely unacceptable. If something makes the game fail for everyone, I'll be a happier guy.

This thing of taking existing franchises that are single-player only; or a game that offers the nice option to either play the game offline SP or with friends online; and then having a sequel or something some iterations later that is online-only is foolish.

ES was SP-only until ESO; FO series was SP-only until FO76; Diablo 1&2 were both offline or online experiences where you had the option to go either way...and then D3 made it online-only / MMO-lite; and now here we go again w/ Torchlight Frontiers pulling a Diablo 3 (PC version) here.

ESO is a pretty different experience from the ES series and they already said they are working on the next mainline Elder Scrolls game. FO76 is also not a mainline Fallout game, they just want to dabble in some coop in the FO experience which I'm totally down to trying out. Dont like it? Just dont play it.

Time will tell. With the big games controlled by public corporations, I'm skeptical that this is just a one-off. (Make that two-off, including ESO.) Their business is business. Money comes easier and faster with monetized multiplayer.

Time will tell. With the big games controlled by public corporations, I'm skeptical that this is just a one-off. (Make that two-off, including ESO.) Their business is business. Money comes easier and faster with monetized multiplayer.

Sure, ESO and FO76 are spin-off's, in a sense - but who's to say FO5 and ES6 won't have some additional online component also or also force online-only entirely?

Todd say Starfield and ES6 will be SP-based - but who's to say things won't change, given how successful ESO finally became in the last few years? That game's been overhauled, expanded on, and been doing VERY well for them. VERY well.

Remember Test Drive Unlimited series? Yeah, those optional online/offline racing games? You know what series came after that, w/ many of those Eden Games dev's (for TDU series) that went to Ivory Tower for UbiSoft, right? That's right, the online-only The Crew series.

ESO is a pretty different experience from the ES series and they already said they are working on the next mainline Elder Scrolls game. FO76 is also not a mainline Fallout game, they just want to dabble in some coop in the FO experience which I'm totally down to trying out. Dont like it? Just dont play it.

Eh, not really. ESO feel like a hybrid b/t some styles of MMO-style combat and Skyrim-Single Player combat. There's also a lot of the usual MMO fetch "Kill X", "Defeat X", "Find X Areas" them seem to be heavily utilized in MMO's. I mostly have solo'd ESO, when I have played it - and honestly, doesn't feel that much different than a ES game. Just....better UI (out-the-box) and no allowed mods, TBH.

ESO's problem is just: it's yet nowhere as great as Skyrim, Morrowind, and Oblivion b/c it uses a lot of fantasy cliches, doesn't support modding & is basically another game trying to be a MMO. Instead of just standing out for being unique in some sort of way, it's really just another damn MMO out there.

What made Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim great was it took a lot of the stuff that we find in MMO's (lots of quests/content everywhere; ridiculously big & huge world to traverse/explore) and applied that type of scale to a SP-offline game. Throw mods on top...and you got a recipe that made ES series unique & appealing in the first place. Main ES titles are basically an offline MMO without all of the online MMO bullshit (online-only DRM; dealing w/ online servers; dealing w/ other players; etc) & with also allowed-mods. This is what Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim succeed over the years like they have.

What made Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim great was it took a lot of the stuff that we find in MMO's (lots of quests/content everywhere; ridiculously big & huge world to traverse/explore) and applied that type of scale to a SP-offline game. Throw mods on top...and you got a recipe that made ES series unique & appealing in the first place. Main ES titles are basically an offline MMO without all of the online MMO bullshit (online-only DRM; dealing w/ online servers; dealing w/ other players; etc) & with also allowed-mods. This is what Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim succeed over the years like they have.

I think you're putting the cart before the horse here. The ES series originated well before the MMO commercial juggernaut really took off. The series was always single-player and offline. They weren't trying to force MMOs into offline SP. It was designed from the ground up as self-contained SP experiences. My point is that the series is not returning to its roots by going the MMO route. Bethesda are selling it out by taking it there. It greatly disappoints me.

I think you're putting the cart before the horse here. The ES series originated well before the MMO commercial juggernaut really took off. The series was always single-player and offline. They weren't trying to force MMOs into offline SP. It was designed from the ground up as self-contained SP experiences. My point is that the series is not returning to its roots by going the MMO route. Bethesda are selling it out by taking it there. It greatly disappoints me.

Very true, ES series (Arena hit in 1994) came out way before MMO's ever did.Thing is, I don't think ES started really taking off in popularity and recognition until Morrowind (2002).

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Yeah, after GTA V Online, I have written Rockstar off entirely. Not only is that series finished for me, but most likely, so is RDR and anything else the company creates.

-- There's still no level cap.-- There are 100's worth of Perk Cards out there.-- Perks are now Perk Cards set and can be swapped in & out at every level.-- You can even share Perk Cards w/ players.-- Until Level 10, you get a Perk Card Pack (containing 4 cards) at every 2 levels-- After Level 10, you get a Perk Card Pack (containing 4 cards) at every 5 levels.-- At every level until Level 50, you can sink points into SPECIAL stats...and then pick a Perk Card(s) to equip.-- At Level 50, you are done w/ adding points to SPECIAL...but you can still earn Perk Cards.-- Each card has a specific value, which are tied to your SPECIAL stats.-- You can equip Perk Cards that add up to your SPECIAL stats; i.e. you have a 3 Points in Strength and have 3 one-point cards, you can equip 3 of these cards.-- You can upgrade Perk Cards & their actual point values, causing them to be more effective.

Here's the info:- FO76 Beta is only open to those that pre-ordered FO 76.- Beta begins Oct. 23rd on XB1; and Oct. 30th on PC/PS4.- FO76 Beta looks like it'll clock in around 46 GB.- No NDA in the Beta. - They (Bethesda/Zenimax) are encouraging you to share your opinions, experience, screenies, videos, live-streams, etc. once the Beta begins.

Fallout 76 is...basically what they originally planned for Fallout 4's MP component, which they scrapped to get FO4 out there.They just decided after FO4 to go in on it...and expanded like crazy on it.Especially after they added another studio full of MMO/multi-player-focused dev's that they figured could help them w/ the MP back-end stuff.

FO76 is an online-only MMO-lite FPS/ARPG/survival game (think like Rust).No NPC's (traditional type), for the most part.Most NPC's that are actually there, they'll be robots.Most of the time, you'll be dealing w/ other players and doing quests/missions/whatever/killing other players and whatnot with them.Takes place in West Virginia.

I think if you're looking for more of that real modern-day Fallout w/ actual choices/moral decisions and single-player content, go play Fallout 3 GOTY and Fallout: NV Ultimate. About Fallout 4 - that decision-making/moral stuff doesn't happen really until the back 1/3rd of the base-game's main quest and most of the real meaty choice-making is mostly found in Far Harbor DLC.

I got sick of Fallout with Fallout 4. It's a great universe, but they pumped out too much stuff in way too short a time and now I'm just tired of it. But that doesn't sound interesting even if I wanted more Fallout. And day-one patches larger than the game install? Jesus, Bethesda does not learn how to manage the technical end of things, do they?

It is difficult to say Bethesda is struggling given the fact Fallout 4 sold more than both Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but is it fair to say that perhaps they've become a bit tone deaf about what appeals to their fan base?

Let's make this clear. People are review bombing an early access Bethesda game for being buggy. Having a lack of NPCs which was advertised, and the post apocalyptic environment for being empty.

Holy shit guys.

OK. Here's the thing. Review bombing is a symptom of something that's pissing off a lot of people. It can be strictly a fanboy-war thing, in which case it doesn't really mean much. But more often, I think it's reflective of the state of whatever is getting bombed. In this case, pro reviews are now bearing out some of the negativity.

I hated the idea of this game from the start (see above). I wanted it to fail. Fallout is not about this. I might have been wrong. This might have become a brilliant MMO. But it didn't, and I wasn't. It became the half-assed, technically laughable effort into bleeding the player base that I feared it would be.

It is difficult to say Bethesda is struggling given the fact Fallout 4 sold more than both Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but is it fair to say that perhaps they've become a bit tone deaf about what appeals to their fan base?

Maybe not right now, but what about later, when Starfield and ES6 roll around?

Will gamers trust Bethesda again after FO76?

They might've just pissed-off a good deal of their fan-base, releasing FO76 in this state and w/ these crazy design choices for a Fallout-franchised game.

PC Gamer - More Bethesda 76 issues, here w/ $200 Power Armor Edition:- Bethesda swapped out the $200 Power Armor Edition's originally planned Canvas Bag for a much cheaper Vinyl Bag.- Bethesda said it was too expensive to make canvas version.- People aren't happy and have been complaining about the false advertising on the bag coming w/ this edition.- Bethesda been offering 500 Atoms (which is $5 worth of the in-game MTX currency for FO76) for those that bought that special edition who weren't happy w/ the vinyl bag.

EDIT -- 12-1-2018:

Youtube - YongYea with more on FO76's Bag-Gate.- Youtube "Influencers" got a very nice backpack/bag at Previewed FO76 events.- Power Armor Edition buyers are not happy about not getting the Canvas Bag, instead getting a cheaper Vinyl one.- But not PAE buyers see Influencers got something way better.